asp:review
mojoPortal 2.2.1.5
Rapid Content Management
By Anand Narayanaswamy
Many companies and individuals nowadays develop powerfulContent Management Systems (CMS) for the benefit of end users. Everyapplication has its own advantages and disadvantages, and you should make yourchoice after considering your requirements and evaluating a product?s strengthsand weaknesses. The main thrust should be given to the installation phase as itis an essential ingredient to get you started. If there are few steps involved,you can start building your Web site quickly. mojoPortal (http://www.mojoportal.com) is a powerfulASP.NET-based application developed using C# by Joe Audette and it enables youto create a Web site within a short period of time by incorporating richfeatures.
Figure 1: The home page of mojoPortal.
When Joe approached me with a request to review theproduct, I thought it would be a simple application. But as I began to testdrive it, I was amazed to see the effort he put in to produce a high-qualityproduct for the global community. The best feature of the product is that it isavailable for download free of cost, without any need to pay any kind oflicense fees. The product is available for both Microsoft?s .NET and MonoFrameworks so you can even deploy the product under Linux. Moreover, the vendoralso provides source code with the package so you can tweak the site to yourrequirements if you are a hard-core developer. The vendor?s Web site is itselfdeveloped using mojoPortal, so you can visit the site to get a feel for theproduct?s capabilities.
I tested mojoPortal on a remote Windows 2003 server loadedwith .NET Framework 2.0 and Microsoft SQL Server 2005. By utilizing a separatepackage (available for download from http://www.mojoportal.com/download.aspx)you can also configure the product to work with MySQL if you prefer to use itas a back-end database. But you should note that the MySQL connector for .NETshould be installed in the GAC on the remote server, without which the productdoesn?t work. However, I noted that the connector is required only for thosedomains that run the product under medium trust.
An interesting point to note is that the product is alsocompatible with PostgreSQL and SQLite databases. The vendor provides a separateinstallation package for running the product under medium trust, along withadditional instructions (available upon request). I noticed that some of thecore functionalities, such as the installation of third-party WebParts, don?tfunction in a medium trust environment; if you want to use them it is advisableto install the product under full trust.
The initial installation process involves manuallyunzipping the package, executing database scripts, and updating the web.configfile. I?d like to see the vendor create a Web-based installer so beginners caninstall the product without any difficulty. One nice feature of the product isthat it can also be installed under Mono on Linux servers. I haven?t found anyother ASP.NET-based CMS products that can be installed in the Linuxenvironment.
The core feature of the product is that it is XHTML-compliant,with support for workflow management. Using mojoPortal you can create blogs,forums, image galleries, an RSS feed aggregator, and an event calendar ? simplyby following the instructions. You can also create a contact form that enablesyour users to submit feedback regarding your site. An interesting feature ofthe product is that you can host multiple sites under one installation anddatabase with the help of host headers. But to use this feature you shouldeither manually create headers on the IIS or use the hosting control panel ifthe interface provides support for the creation of header names. However, Ifound that the creation of headers is not required if you host the site using adedicated IP address.
Figure 2: Create content easily.
An interesting feature of the product is that it enablesyou to easily customize the user profile system by adding the requiredproperties in the mojoportal.config file. mojoPortal includes a powerfulWYSIWYG editor called FCKeditor, which enables you to create content by usingvarious formatting options.
Figure 3: The text editor in action.
The product also ships with a separate file manager, withwhich you can manage files located on the server without using FTP. The filemanager provides the ability to upload files directly to the server, and alsosupports file versioning. I think the vendor should incorporate automatic zip/unzipcapabilities so users can easily extract huge files without uploading themindividually. You can easily manage users registered on your site by using the UserProfile and Member List page. The product automatically creates BreadCrumbs oneach page so you can quickly navigate to each page with the click of a mouse.
Figure 4: The file manager in action.
I found that mojoPortal can easily be customized by usingthe available skins. You can also change the look and feel of each skin byediting the relevant CSS file. The vendor has provided tableless skins, whichenables you to have a uniform look and feel of the site across differentbrowsers. I also tested the product using different browsers ? it workedexactly as expected. The vendor is currently working to provide more skins withnew releases of the product. Moreover, you can also apply different skins foreach page on your site. The product also ships with a dynamic HTML crossbrowser menu system and support for localization.
I am excited to note that the vendor has given adequateimportance to security-related aspects. For instance, as an administrator, youcan configure the portal to encrypt passwords. You can also implement aregistration system that requires an e-mail confirmation from the registereduser. I noted that the secure registration feature stores the user?scredentials in the database upon registration, but it locks the user?s accountuntil they click the link sent in the confirmation e-mail so the user can?t login until the e-mail address is verified.
You can also configure the site to use Secured SocketsLayer (SSL) for either the whole site or individual pages. A core feature ofthe product is that, with the help of the provided WebPart, you can create yourown personalized page titled ?My Page? using the relevant content from thesite. The vendor plans to include more powerful functionalities, such as aprivate messaging system, external POP Email access, Ecommerce module,Newsletters, AdRotator, and much more. You can access the list of featuresincluded with the product, as well as the proposed functionalities, at http://www.mojoportal.com/features.aspx.
Figure 5: Personalizing usingWebPart.
The product does, however, lack certain features, such as theability to automatically display publication dates along with the articles.Moreover, you must manually update the home page of your site with the list ofrecently published articles as the product doesn?t incorporate this feature. Ihope the vendor will incorporate these features in future versions. The vendoris planning to include e-commerce functionality in the next version of theproduct. You can browse the detailed road map of the product at http://www.mojoportal.com/roadmap.aspx.
Also, you can view live online demos of the administrationinterface at http://www.mojoportal.com/demos.aspx,as well as detailed documentation of the product at http://www.mojoportal.com/installation.aspx.I am very happy with the support provided by the vendor through e-mail and allqueries received immediate detailed answers. The vendor also maintains adiscussion forum at http://www.mojoportal.com/forums.aspxwhere you can view queries and comments posted by other users.
mojoPortal has rich potential, and is a solid ASP.NET-basedContent Management System. Take a test drive ? I?m sure you?ll like it.
Anand Narayanaswamy,a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP), works as an independentconsultant and runs NetAns Technologies (http://www.netans.com),which provides Web hosting services based in Trivandrum, India. Anand also worksas a technical editor lead for http://ASPAlliance.com.He runs http://www.Learnxpress.com, http://Dotnetalbum.com, and http://Csharpfaq.com. Anand is the author of CommunityServer Quickly (Packt Publishing). You can explore more information about thebook at http://www.communityserverbook.com.Find out more about him at http://www.visualanand.netor e-mail him at mailto:netans@gmail.com.
Rating: ????
Web Site: http://www.mojoportal.com
Price: Free (http://www.mojoportal.com/license.aspx)